Poland has yet to adopt regulations implementing AIFMD, but that does not mean that nothing will change on the Polish market for private equity and closed investment funds in the next few months, before the new regulations are enacted here ...
In my last article, “ECOA Gets More Teeth in North Carolina,” I wrote about the recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision, RL Regi North Carolina, LLC v. Lighthouse Cove, LLC,…,and Connie S. Yow (COA12-1279). As expected, it did not take long for this important decision to limit the enforcement of some spousal guaranties. Approximately one month after the Lighthouse decision, Wells Fargo v. Triplett v ...
Several provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act have brought compensation of financial institution executives into the public eye. Although disclosure of executive and director compensation dates back to the 1930s, Dodd-Frank’s most highly publicized requirement, “say-on-pay,” shifts the disclosure to a dialogue with shareholders, essentially allowing shareholders to vote on compensation for certain executives ...
A debtor files for bankruptcy protection, and his or her creditors are sent notice of the filing. Despite having received the notice, due to a breakdown in internal procedures one of the creditors, a bank, accidentally takes action to collect on the debt after the filing of the bankruptcy case – thus violating the automatic stay. Since the violation was unintentional, surely the bank cannot be sanctioned, right? Wrong ...
In November 2012, Lavery published a newsletter concerning the announcement made by the Harper government on October 24, 2012 of the adoption of new regulations to protect consumers who use prepaid credit cards so that they are better able to choose the forms of payment best suited to their needs. At that time, on October 27, 2012, the draft Prepaid Payment Products Regulations (the "Federal Regulations") were published for comment in Part I of the Canada Gazette ...
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) has issued interpretive guidance regarding which Dodd-Frank1 requirements apply to certain non-U.S. swap transactions (the “Cross-Border Rule”).2 In order to facilitate parties’ compliance with the Cross Border Rule, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) has published the ISDA 2013 DF Agreement for Non-U.S. Transactions (the “Non-U.S ...
On November 21, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its judgment in the case of La Souveraine, Compagnie d’assurance générale v. Autorité des marchés financiers, 2013 SCC 63, a decision which is now critically important in the context of the distribution of insurance products in Quebec ...
Negotiation of the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation has faltered. While there is still a possibility that the Regulation could be passed before the May 2014 European elections, that looks increasingly remote. The main stumbling block appears to be the difficult issue of the ‘one stop shop’, which has produced deadlock within the Council of Ministers. The ‘one stop shop’ proposal is inherently difficult, but until now has been referenced in somewhat superficial terms ...
Confirmation of the W.Va. Attorney General's Authority to Hire Private Counsel on Behalf of the State For more than a decade, the circuit courts in West Virginia have wrestled with the issue of whether the State Attorney General has the ability to retain private attorneys to pursue litigation on behalf of the State. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia recently issued a decision confirming the Attorney General does, in fact, have that authority. In State of W. Va. ex rel ...
Over the last few years, the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators1 (“CCIR”) has taken an active interest in the issue of the electronic commerce of insurance products and the necessity of ensuring the adequate protection of the interests of consumers in this context ...
The Romanian Government has approved the necessary legislative amendments to create a holding regime in Romania, the ordinance being published in the Official Gazette on Friday, November 15, effective as of January 1st, 2014. The ordinance includes profits tax exemptions for Romanian holding companies as regards revenues from dividends received, revenues from the sale of shares and revenues from the liquidation process ...
The Board of the Central Bank of Ecuador issued a new rule governing interest rates for late payment, which seeks to encourage timely payment of claims by customers of the institutions of the national financial system.The new rule establishes a scale of percentages to calculate the default rate of up to 10% in credit operations. The settlements will be made only for the amount due of principal and only from the date of non-payment until the day of fulfillment of obligations ...
A recent decision by the English High Court emphasises the limited scope of the duties on facility agents arising from standard facility terms. The role of facility agents in these circumstances has been found to be “solely mechanical and administrative” in nature. A link to the full text of the decision can be accessed here ...
A Report into effective approaches to audit committee reporting has been published by the Financial Reporting Lab, which is a forum set up by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to encourage better communication between listed companies and investors in the UK. The aim of the Report is to provide insight from companies and investors on effective approaches to audit committee reporting ...
Whilst adding some clarity, the case doesn't make a "no MAC in financial condition" representation any easier for a lender to rely upon.MAC in loan agreementsMAC definitions come in many forms but generally refer to changes which have an adverse effect either on the borrower's business generally, its financial condition, and/or the ability of the lender to call on its security ...
Invoice financing includes factoring, invoice discounting and asset-based lending. It can be accessed by the SME and corporate market to unlock the value of unpaid debts and assets of a business, such as stock, plant and machinery.This type of financing has distinct advantages. In invoice discounting, funders may be able to offer up to 85% of the value of unpaid debts well before that debt is due to be paid. This dramatically reduces the credit cycle, getting cash back into the business sooner ...
FCA clarifies applications timetable The transitional period for the implementation of AIFMD in the UK ends on 22 July 2014 and existing alternative investment fund managers' (AIFMs) must hold the correct Part 4A permission by that date ...
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has just enacted a revamped investor residency programme, entitling successful applicants to a permanent residence certificate (PRC). The Qualifying criteria are: Villas a. Investment of not less than $300,000 in actual construction of a new home, or in renovation of a distressed property as a home for the applicant and his or her dependants, on the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos or North Caicos; or b ...
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has just enacted a revamped investor residency programme, entitling successful applicants to a permanent residence certificate (PRC). Qualifying criteriaThe qualifying criteria are:- Villasa. Investment of not less than $300,000 in actual construction of a new home, or in renovation of a distressed property as a home for the applicant and his or her dependants, on the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos or North Caicos; orb ...
Trusts and Private Foundations often serve the same purposes. One transfers goods (money, real estate, shares, etc.) to an Private Foundation or trustee to be managed for the benefit of one or more others. Those “others” can be the ones who have transferred the goods to the trustee or the Private Foundation, but not necessarily so ...
A creditor affected by asset-stripping by a debtor doesn’t have to remain a passive victim of dishonesty. Creditors have probably had trouble since time immemorial with dishonest debtors—ones who deliberately and unlawfully attempt to escape from their obligations ...
On July 24, 2013 the First Circuit Court of Appeals, applying an “investment plus” test, concluded that a Sun Capital private equity investment fund was engaged in a “trade or business” for purposes of determining whether the fund could be jointly and severally liable under ERISA for the unfunded pension withdrawal liability of the portfolio company ...
The Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) which was established on April 1, 2011 under the Financial Services Commission Act, 2010-21 (the “Act”) has been mandated to, amongst other things, supervise and regulate the operations of the financial services sector other than the banking services ...
Introduction:The Consumer Protection Act, Cap. 326D (‘the Act’) aims at protecting consumer rights by, among other things, prohibiting and penalizing the use of unfair contract terms by suppliers of services. The Act is administered and enforced by the Fair Trading Commission (‘the FTC’). This article summarises the effect of the Act on how service providers can legally contract with their customers. This article does not focus on suppliers of goods ...